An Information Broker Scorned
by servantofclio
Summary: Shepard's moved on. Liara has a thing or two to say about that, but Shepard has a few things to say, as well. FemShep/Garrus, past FemShep/Liara.


A MassKink fill, for the following prompt: "Anyway, my Shep romanced Liara on the old Normandy. Then she died, came back and now Garrus has been calibrating more than just the Normandys weapons. Cue angry Liara, defensive Shep and poor Garrus stuck in the middle of two angry women. Doesn't need to be porny, but would like it if Garrus & Shep remain together at the end :)"

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><p>An Information Broker Scorned<p>

"So..." Shepard looked around the Shadow Broker's office, wondering what all the different terminals were for. They'd rigged a kinetic barrier as a temporary fix for the hole Liara had made in the ceiling, and Garrus and Feron were maneuvering the yahg's enormous carcass out of the room with a cargo lift they'd found somewhere. She watched Garrus for a moment; he'd said he was fine despite being knocked out for the whole fight, but Shepard was skeptical, and resolved to have Chakwas check him out for a concussion as soon as possible. She turned back to Liara. "Are you sure taking over as the Shadow Broker is what you want?"

Liara looked over toward the two men, looked back at Shepard, and sniffed. "I'm sure. I can do something real here. But I find it interesting, Shepard, that you pretend to care about what I want."

Shepard blinked. "What?"

"You didn't even come looking for me when you were resurrected, Shepard. You didn't even send me a message!"

"Ah." Shepard shifted, and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. Liara hadn't really brought anything up about their former relationship, aside from that one kiss back on Illium, and Shepard hadn't exactly been eager to bring up the subject herself. "I'm really sorry, Liara... everything was so confusing when I woke up, and the Illusive Man told me you were working for the Shadow Broker..."

"And you believed him? You didn't even try to reach me, to find out if it was true, to let me know you were alive?" Liara sniffed again. Dammit, she was probably trying not to cry. Shepard felt like about the lowest form of life she could imagine. "I found out on my own, because I'm a _good_ information broker, but it would have been nice to hear it from _you_."

"I'm so sorry," Shepard repeated. "I... don't know what to say. I knew it had been two years. I assumed you'd moved on. I didn't want to presume anything about our relationship. You... you didn't send me a message, either..."

Garrus walked up next to her. "Well, that takes care of that," he said. "I don't know what you want to do with the body, Liara, but at least it's not in here any more."

Liara glared indiscrimately at the two of them. "Two years is practically nothing to an asari, Shepard. A blink of an eye. Of course I still care for you! I always heard humans were fickle, but I didn't believe it of you. I guess I learned my lesson. It certainly didn't take you long to move on. I know perfectly well what you two have been up to."

Shepard froze. Beside her, Garrus fidgeted, and muttered, "Now, this is a little awkward."

Liara eyed him with scorn. "Popping the heat sink, Garrus? Really?"

"Um. That was kind of an unfortunate comment, yeah."

Shepard burst out, "You've been _spying_ on me? You BUGGED my ship?"

"I have. I am, after all, a very good information broker." Liara smirked. "Maybe you should consider sweeping the battery again, Garrus. You seem to have missed a few."

"Now wait just a second," said Shepard. "I can't believe you'd be all self-righteous about our break-up, and then invade my privacy like that."

"It doesn't count as a break-up unless you've actually had a conversation about breaking up, Shepard!"

"I died, Liara! Even marriage vows say 'til death do us part', and we were only together a few weeks!"

Liara tossed her head. "I put surveillance on your ship because I was looking out for you, Shepard. I wanted to make sure Cerberus wasn't pressuring you or influencing you too much. I didn't expect to find you making eyes at the local turian..."

"The _turian_ is Garrus, who's been my friend as long as you have..."

"...so you can imagine how I felt when I saw you coming on to him." Liara rolled her eyes. "Reach and flexibility? You both have the most terrible lines. And I used to think I was socially awkward."

Shepard sputtered.

"I just can't believe you'd go for a turian, Shepard. Over me! Even turians would rather sleep with asari than other turians!"

Shepard stared at Liara, open-mouthed. Garrus muttered, "Actually, that preference isn't held by more than about 11% of the turian population..."

Liara went on, "I could maybe understand it if you took up with another human, there are advantages to being with your own species, after all..."

Shepard had had enough. "Stop," she said. "Let me talk for a minute. I can't believe you'd be this petty, Liara. Be angry at me if you want, but Garrus doesn't deserve your insults." She took a deep breath. "God, Liara, I knew you'd changed, I heard you threatening that client, but I didn't think you'd stoop this low."

Liara nodded. "I thought you might say that. And you're right, I have changed. But I'm not the only one. Just how much do you know about what he was up to the last two years?" She pulled a datapad out of her pocket, pressed a button, and pushed it into Shepard's hands.

"What is this?" asked Shepard, just as Garrus snapped, "What is that?" and leaned over her shoulder for a look.

It was a list of names. Of dead people. And how they'd died. A lot of them had been shot in the head, at long range. Others had suffered... more creative means of execution. Shepard was pretty sure he must have thought of them as executions. He hadn't told her that much about his days on Omega, and she hadn't pushed, because she knew those memories were raw for him. He'd said enough, though, that she knew he'd done things he wasn't happy about, in retrospect.

Garrus made a choked noise, and took one long step toward Liara. "There were reasons," he snarled, "for every one of those deaths. Those people were scum. They'd hurt innocents, people who couldn't protect themselves."

Liara stood her ground. "Keep telling yourself that, Archangel."

Garrus growled, and raised one fist; Liara flared blue, and started a gesture that Shepard recognized as _stasis_. She was glad it wasn't something more lethal, even as she shoved one shoulder between them. "Stand down," she commanded. "Both of you."

She was facing Liara, but she heard Garrus, behind her, take a step back, and breathe deeply. "If you'll excuse me, Shepard, I need some air."

"Go ahead," said Shepard, her eyes not leaving Liara's. "We'll talk later."

"Right," he said, wearily, and she listened for the sound of his footsteps. When she heard the door open and shut, she stepped back and crossed her arms.

Liara dropped her eyes from Shepard's steady gaze. She looked, at last, a little abashed, a violet flush spreading over her freckled cheeks. "Shepard..."

"No," said Shepard. "It's my turn to talk. I think you've said enough. Liara, I truly am sorry I hurt you. You're right, I should have reached out to you, and..." She sighed. "I was confused, and so much was happening, and I didn't know what I wanted to say to you, or how to say it. But those are just excuses, and I'm sorry."

Liara nodded, blinking rapidly.

"However," and Shepard's voice was sharp enough now to make Liara flinch, "What you've done is still completely unacceptable. You've invaded my privacy, not to mention that of the rest of my crew, and that needs to stop."

"I'll disable the bugs," whispered Liara. "I just... I'd never felt this way about someone before, Shepard, and... I wanted to keep an eye on you, and then I felt so angry..."

Shepard sighed. All of a sudden, she could feel every ache from where the yahg had hit her. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I do care for you, Liara. But you're right. I've moved on. I care for Garrus, too. I felt so isolated and confused when I woke up, and then I found him, and... he's really been there for me through everything. You shouldn't blame him for me moving on." She managed a weak smile. "As you heard, I was the pursuer." Liara bit her lip, and nodded. Shepard added, "The list was a low blow."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll... send Garrus an apology later." She fidgeted in place. "Just... are you happy, Shepard? Does he make you happy?"

"Yeah." Shepard smiled again, a real one this time. "Terrible lines and all."

"That's good. I want you to be happy, Shepard."

"I should go," said Shepard after a moment. "Chakwas will want to check me out. But, I hope we can be friends? I'll be in touch?"

"Of course," said Liara, not quite meeting her eyes. "I'd like that. And I'll see what useful information I can come up with."

As Shepard headed across the room, Liara called, "Wait... Shepard... If you hadn't died, do you think we might have...lasted?"

Shepard stopped. "It's possible, but I don't know. We might still have grown apart in time."

Liara sighed. "Yes. That is always a risk for asari. I suppose we'll never know."

Garrus hadn't gone far; Shepard found him sitting in the corridor outside the office. She took a seat on the bench next to him. "You okay? We really should get your head checked out."

He gave her a look. "We really should get your everything checked out. I'll wager you're already starting some spectacular bruises."

Shepard rolled her aching shoulder. "No doubt about that."

He sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all..." he waved his hand vaguely, "... that. There were reasons, at the time. Every one of those deaths seemed right." He was silent for a minute. "It almost feels as though I was a different person, then," he said eventually, quietly. "I don't know what you'll think of what I did. I don't want to... disappoint you."

Shepard bumped her shoulder against his. "It's okay, Garrus. You can tell me about it when you're ready. Or not ever, if that's what you want. But either way, don't worry. You've never disappointed me."

He blew out a breath. "Okay." He looked toward her. "Liara has a lot more to offer you than I do. No dextro-levo complications, you could even have children if you wanted to..."

"Not this again," Shepard said, but she was smiling. She leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek plate, right on the edge of the scar. "I already told you, I want you. Trust me that I'm not going to change my mind at the drop of a hat. Come on, let's go let Chakwas fuss over us, and later we can blow off some steam."

"Not before we do a thorough sweep for bugs."

Shepard cringed. She really hoped Liara hadn't put any cameras in her quarters. Or the Shadow Broker. Or God knows who else. "Agreed."


End file.
